Re: Misting air-con Quattro V8

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex Gray-OUPC <alex@oupc.bbc.co.uk>
To: Audi list <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: Friday, May 08, 1998 12:43 PM
Subject: Misting air-con Quattro V8


>
>Please, please, does anyone know how to cure occasional but serious
steaming
>up of Quattro 200 and V8 interior. I'm not talking about the usual little
>flush of humidity when an a/c starts up, but a real pumping of humid air
>into the vehicle. A little background...
>
>I used to have a 200 Quattro with only one fault - the air con. It needed
>recharging about every 6 months - I could live with that, but it had
another
>real problem. Every now and again, sometimes ebery day, it would suddenly
>decide to give me a sauna. The windows would mist uncontrollably, and it
was
>a misery, especially in winter. It happens a bit more when the weather is
>cold or wet, but can even happen on a fine sunny day.
>
>I never could work out where the water was coming from - the coolant didn't
>drop much, and I had the plenum and drains etc all checked out for
blockages
>and so on. Never did solve it, and one day when the compressor packed up
>(seized so hard it stalled the engine), I decided to sell it as have no
>air-con, and bought a V8 Quattro to replace it.
>
>Big mistake - the V8 is auto, and despite being 4.2, isn't as fast off the
>mark as the 2.2 Turbo 200, takes 50% more gas, and, horro of horrors....
>turns out to have *exactly* the same aircon problem.
>
>My wife nearly strangled me the first time it happened - I 'sold' the new
>buy to the whole family on the strength of getting rid of the dreaded
>steaming up, and here we are back at first base!
>
>It seems to be whenever the vehicle decides a little heating is called for,
>and my first assumption with the first vehicle was that the heater matrix
>was leaking, but the coolant doesn't go down, and I've had it all inspected
>more than once.
>
>Any ideas would be very gratefully received.
>
>Alex Gray
>
>PS the climate control seems to be a real black spot in Audio 100/200/V8
>design. I have had 4 (some people never learn!) and they have all given
real
>problems with the aircon. My wife has had two little Hondas with aircon 3
>times as powerful as the Audi's and never a fault!

Hi Alex;

    This problem has been discussed on the list several times in the last
few months, so you should be able to find something in the archives. The
usual recommended fix is to replace/re-fasten the spring on the
recirculation flap door, which is located above the passenger footwell.

HTH

Fred Munro
'91 200q  251k km